History and Religious Studies students from Talbot Heath, and a number of local schools, gathered for an inspiring and memorable event this week, when Holocaust survivor Henry Ariel Schechter spoke of the horrors of his childhood. The Holocaust Memorial Youth Conference focused on Henry’s moving account where he explained how both of his parents had been deported to Auschwitz in 1944; his father was later shot dead during a death march on the way to Flossenberg, and his mother later died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen, only days before the liberation.
One of many responses to the talk was from year 11 student, Aria, who said, ‘'The Holocaust survivor told us his family's experience, trying to get away from the Nazi rule and find shelter after being severely discriminated against for being Jewish. I distinctly remember him telling us how his mother played a big role in him surviving, the hardships she faced trying to flee the country without being caught with multiple children, and I can only imagine how frightening it must have been. His story was truly touching and helped me better understand the horrors during the Second World War.’
